UTSA fundraising effort will back bid for athletics facilities

UTSA has added athletics facilities as one of four new areas of focus to benefit from the university’s continued fundraising efforts.

The university said in a release published Monday that it has increased the goal of the one-year-old capital campaign from $120 million to $175 million.

Already, the university has received $121 million in pledges.

The next phase of the campaign “will focus on greater investment in graduate students who conduct research, undergraduate programs that bring top students to UTSA, faculty research that fuels innovation and discovery and athletics facilities,” according to the release.

“I am confident we will meet our $175 million milestone because San Antonio has already been very generous to us,” UTSA president Ricardo Romo said.

To date, the capital campaign has supported 135 new student scholarships, 26 new endowed faculty positions and nine new research centers or institutes.

Nearly 20,000 donors have supported the campaign, which is scheduled to continue through August 2015.

It’s uncertain how much of the additional $54 million would be earmarked for athletics.

But athletics has no shortage of facilities needs.

At the top of the list could be construction of a practice site for the UTSA football program at the university’s Park West property.